UFC 286: O2 Arena lights fail as fight is about to start

The London arena went dark, seconds before Muhammad Mokaev’s fight with Jafel Filho began

The lights failed at the O2 Arena during UFC 286 on Saturday night, moments before Muhammad Mokaev’s fight with Jafel Filho began.

Dagestan-born Briton Mokaev, a rising contender in the flyweight division, was seconds away from getting under way against Brazil’s Filho, when the arena lights cut out.

Jon Anik and his commentary partners – former UFC champions Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping – acknowledged the light failure, while asking whether it would affect the performance of the fighters, given the timing of the incident.

The London crowd sang “Ole!” repeatedly as they waited for the issue to be fixed, and it was indeed resolved within a couple of minutes.

Mokaev vs Filho then got under way, marking the first prelim bout of the evening on the undercard of Leon Edwards’ welterweight title defence against Kamaru Usman.

Mokaev, 22, went on to win the fight with a third-round submission, forcing Filho to tap out to a rear naked choke.

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